Biography:

Jenny Tragner is a Director and Head of Policy at ForrestBrown, leading the technical approach for the firm on all aspects of R&D tax relief.

She is an experienced chartered accountant and ATT fellow with a wealth of expertise in all aspects of R&D tax. She specialises in supporting businesses with complex cases involving R&D reliefs, including dispute resolution and tax advisory projects.

She began her career at KPMG in 2002 and has specialised in R&D tax for the past 15 years. In this time, she has advised many of the UK’s most innovative companies.

Jenny is an expert in R&D tax policy and has contributed to numerous consultations on R&D tax relief over the course of her career.

She co-authored the Tolley’s Tax Digest on R&D tax relief and is a regular contributor to publications including Taxation and Bloomberg Tax. In November 2022, Jenny was invited to give evidence to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee inquiry into the incentive. She also contributes to TolleyGuidance Corporate module.

Biography:

Former Payroll and Expenses manager for the Daily Telegraph. Former head of Payroll Alliance responsible for the delivery of payroll training courses, 7 BTEC payroll qualifications and subscribed membership. Representing members on government panels for over 20 years.

She was the first editor of Payroll World magazine (now Reward Strategy).

Member of the Reward 300 2020 and an associate member of the British Computer Society. Regular contributor to Taxation magazine on RTI and payroll issues.

Updating author of the Payroll Fact File for 30 years.

Winner of the Strathearn Award for Lifetime Achievement 2009.

Currently specialising in payroll training and consultancy.

Biography:

Barbara trained as a lawyer with top-tier firms in Brazil, gaining over 15 years of experience in tax law, with deep expertise in both national and international taxation. As the Head of the Tax Department at Andersen Ballão Advocacia, she leads a team of professionals advising on a wide range of tax matters, including corporate taxes, national and cross-border transactions, VAT, and tax disputes.

Barbara specialises in tax planning, M&A transactions, consultancy, and resolving complex tax litigation, with extensive experience advising multinational companies, individuals, and various industries, including technology, retail, oil and gas, and finance. Her expertise extends to key areas such as international tax structuring, transfer pricing, direct and indirect taxation, helping clients navigate the complex Brazilian tax system.

She holds bachelor's degrees in Law from UNICURITIBA and in Accounting Science from the Federal University of Paraná. Barbara also obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) in Domestic Taxation from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), and an LLM in International Tax Law, with distinction, from Queen Mary University of London. In recognition of her academic achievements, she was awarded the prestigious Chevening Scholarship for 2022/23.

In addition to her legal practice, Barbara is a published author and a frequent speaker at national and international conferences. Her articles have been featured in renowned tax publications, and she regularly delivers lectures and workshops on taxation in leading post-graduate programs in Brazil.

Barbara is recognised for her technical excellence and strategic thinking, having contributed to innovative solutions in major tax disputes and cross-border tax planning. She has played a significant role in fostering tax debate and education, serving as a mentor and role model for young professionals in the tax law field.

To contact Barbara, please email: barbara.neves@andersenballao.com.br / barbaradasneves@gmail.com or call +55 41 3221-7777.

Biography:

Dora is a Certified Public Accountant with 25 years’ experience. She joined PKF in 1998, and since then has continuously worked on a client-based approach, focusing on quality and accuracy.

She has dealt with high profile clients and has a thorough understanding of corporate issues, business processes and customer needs, advising on a wide range of tax issues. Her expertise in assurance and tax compliance extends from the hotel and tourism sector to retail businesses.

Biography:

Raffaele Russo is an expert on international taxation and on international and domestic tax policy. He is currently Partner at Chiomenti Law Firm and a Senior Fellow at the Amsterdam Centre for Tax Law (ACTL) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

With over 20 years of professional experience, Raffaele has held key positions in renowned international and domestic institutions, including the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) in Amsterdam, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance in Rome.

At the OECD, he worked on double tax treaties and on transfer pricing. He played a key role in launching and delivering groundbreaking projects like the OECD work on tax and crimes and the work on aggressive tax planning, which later became the OECD/G20 BEPS Project, which he led until the delivery of the first phase of the Project in 2015.

During his service at the Italian Ministry of economy and finance, he focused on reforming the tax administration and on the digitalization of invoices and receipts. He was then appointed Deputy Chief of Cabinet in charge of taxation and of digitalization from early 2020 to March 2021.

He lectures in leading universities around the world and speaks frequently at conferences and seminars. He has published more than 100 articles in Italian and foreign journals.

He is member of the Rome Bar (Italy) since 2022.

Biography:

John Lindsay is a Consultant with Linklaters LLP. He has extensive experience of advising on corporate tax matters and in particular on the tax treatment of loan relationships and derivative contracts and on financing transactions. He is a contributor to Simon's Taxes, Tolley’s Tax Planning, and Finance Act Handbook.

Biography:

After being called to the Bar of England and Wales (Lincoln’s Inn, 2011), Jivaan began his career in the Tax and Legal Services team of a Big4 accounting firm in the Caribbean, where he managed the tax and commercial disputes portfolio.

He retrained and qualified as a solicitor into the corporate tax team of Linklaters LLP (London). His tax practice primarily entails advising on potentially contentious legal issues (tax and commercial) in the context of cross-border M&A, corporate reorganisations and finance transactions, as well as assisting clients in resolving tax disputes with tax authorities, including representation before the relevant tribunals and courts.

Jivaan regularly advises clients in a range of sectors, spanning private equity and financial sponsors, financial institutions, fintech, consumer goods, energy and sports. Jivaan has a fervent interest in legislative policy development in developing countries, especially as it relates to international taxation and commercial law.

Current and past projects in this respect include:

(i) advising the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on the drafting of three model Bills relating to company, insolvency and partnership laws;

(ii) advising a state on its tax reforms to comply with OECD requirements to facilitate removal from the grey list; and

(iii) developing and delivery tax training to the tax authority of a state’s tax authority on international tax law issues, including double tax treaties and transfer pricing. Jivaan is a member of Linklaters’ Latin America Group and is Head of the Linklaters Caribbean Desk. Outside of practice, Jivaan is a visiting lecturer at King’s College London on the International Tax Law LLM, where he lectures on the International Tax Law and the EU Tax Law modules and supervises dissertations related to these topics.

Biography:

Paa Kwesi Hagan is a solicitor and head of Globetrotters Legal Africa, a firm that specialises in providing bespoke solutions for global corporations operating in Ghana.

Paa Kwesi has a wealth of experience in advising clients on Ghanaian immigration, employment law and compliance matters, including tax compliance.

He was named in ‘Who's Who Legal: Ghana 2014’, published by Law Business Research UK, as one of the leading experts in the field of labour and employment law. He has also been recognised as a leading corporate immigration lawyer globally on account of being the only lawyer recognised in Ghana by ‘The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers: 2014-2022.

Paa Kwesi is a member of the Ghana Bar Association and is admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana. He is also a member of the International Bar Association (IBA).

Paa Kwesi is the author of Tolley’s Global Mobility / Employment Taxes guide for Ghana.

Biography:

Ian leads the Mazars' Employment Tax practice in the UK.

Experience:

Ian helps employers attract and retain key personnel as well as ensure their governance is in the best shape to manage risks associated with Employment Tax and National Minimum Wage.

He has supported many organisations in implementing salary sacrifice arrangements to increase net pay and make cost savings.

Ian has advised businesses on IR35, expenses, benefits (including P11D and PSA compliance), Construction Industry Scheme and National Minimum Wage governance. This has included getting organisations ready for sale, as well as helping large employers mitigate HMRC risks.

Ian has a keen interest in cost reduction and reward strategy, highlighted through supporting businesses with travel (cars, vans, temporary workplaces etc) and expenses, including NIC reclaim projects and bringing to life new reward strategies to better reflect the business objectives and culture.

Work Highlights:

Ian is a published author on Employment Tax, National Minimum Wage and Termination Payments, as well as contributing regular articles to various tax and other publications.

He was heavily involved in helping organisations get to grips with their Covid response, supporting businesses with the CJRS/Furlough arrangements to help protect jobs and ensure claims made were as accurate as possible.

Biography:

I am a lawyer with a specialist focus and master's degree in Labour Law. I have more than 10 years of experience in the employment/labour area, advising companies in the hiring, maintenance and termination of employment contracts. I am the contributor to the Brazil country guide for Tolley's Global Mobility: Employment Taxes.

Biography:

Debra Moses has more than 28 years of experience in expatriate taxation. She assists multinational companies with their globally mobile workforce, including Canadian and US income tax compliance, international payroll, social security, compensation, global equity compensation and tax policy consulting.

Biography:

Nathalie Varga is a managing director at PKF Österreicher & Partner GmbH & Co KG and advises companies of various sizes and sectors on all tax and business management issues. Since passing the tax advisor exam in 2016, she has also specialised in VAT issues.

She professionally advises clients on a daily basis on all domestic and international VAT issues, while always keeping an eye on other tax topics as well. In addition to VAT, Nathalie is also an expert in the field of group taxation.

Biography:

Shanzé has recently joined Old Square Tax Chambers as a barrister advising in all areas of tax. Shanzé has worked on various income tax and corporation tax matters. She has also worked on issues involving SDLT, VAT and domicile. She contributes to Tolley's Tax Planning.

Biography:

Steven is a tax-qualified Chartered Surveyor who has specialised in tax incentives, including capital allowances and land remediation relief for over 20 years. Previously he held senior specialist positions in 'Big 4' and national mid-tier accountancy firms. Capital allowances underpin income tax and corporation tax calculations by giving tax relief for money spent to buy, build or alter commercial property.

Steven works with owner-occupiers, investors and their advisers to provide capital allowances opinions, transaction support and specialist valuations for all types of property.  This includes resolving HM Revenue capital allowances enquiries and giving expert evidence to tribunals and courts.

Steven has contributed to many articles and books, including: Bloomsbury Professional's Capital Allowances, Tolley's Tax Planning, RICS's official Guidance Note for surveyors on Capital Allowances and Land Remediation Relief, and Practical Law Company's Practice Note on Commercial Property Standard Enquiry 32 dealing with capital allowances.

Biography:

Penny is a highly respected pensions lawyer. She advises individuals, employers and pension trustees on their pension arrangements. She works closely with Irwin Mitchell LLP's employment team on crossover areas such as employers' duties for pension compliance (including auto-enrolment), employer pension committees, or pension tax changes.  She advises on how an employer can change their pension plan to maximise the benefit they and their workforce receive from it.  She also works closely with Irwin Mitchell LLP's private wealth team on pension issues such as the impact of the proposed changes to how inheritance tax applies to pension savings, as well as advice on small self administered schemes (SSASs) and what happens to pensions when someone moves abroad. Recently she's been looking at the impact of the new FOG (non-domicile) legislation on income from overseas pensions. From the corporate perspective, Penny advises employers and banks on questions over the Pension Schemes Act 2021 and the extended powers which this Act gives to The Pensions Regulator to enforce against anyone who is in involved in the mis-management of defined benefit, final salary pension plans. She also now regularly advises on the use of surplus and is interested in how employers and trustees have to balance their various interests over how it is used. With this, the Government is trying to use pension surplus as a way to grow the UK economy. Finally, Penny sits as a professional trustee for various organisations.

Biography:

Dr. Patrick Mulcahy, FCA, CTA (Tax and Accounting Lecturer, Dublin City University and Tax Director, Financial Services Group, PwC).

Biography:

My goal is to help entrepreneurs grow their business in France and abroad by providing them financial, accounting and tax advice and solutions.

15+ years of experience in Finance, External & Internal Audit in a Big 4 Accounting Firm and Industry.

Experience in working with all management levels in cross cultural environments

spanning Asia, Americas, Europe, Middle-East & Africa.

Proven ability to demonstrate a comprehensive approach to resolve complex issues and to achieve targets / meet deadlines despite challenging situations.

Biography:

Robert Eggens is an experienced VAT specialist with over 10 years of expertise, primarily focused on VAT and customs matters related to international trade and supply chains. He has worked extensively with multinational companies, providing strategic advice on VAT compliance and optimization. Robert is also actively involved in cross-border VAT projects and has contributed to numerous international VAT initiatives and contributes to Tolley's Global and EU VAT.